handsoff
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Posts posted by handsoff
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I was browsing the website of our local artisan coffee roasters and found the following on their twitter feed. I am not a user of twitter and the link may not work but it does give a small taste of the organ in London Bridge station. I'm sure those who know more about social media than I will be able to find it on Anna Lapwood's account...
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I can imagine the reaction of travellers to the sound of a very large organ being played in Kings Cross or Paddington when the final movement of Guilmant 1 overwhelms the announcement for the 12.30 to York or Plymouth respectively. I can also imagine the reaction of organs fans when the final movement of Guilmant 1 is halted to allow the announcements. 🙂
The portable organ in St Pancras is a brilliant idea, properly sited and clearly not so as loud as to be intrusive.
PS When they've finished with it, it would appear to be an excellent replacement for the failing instrument in my church. Postcode available on request...
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With thanks to Jenny Setchell for pointing out this new site in her latest email.
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I noticed in the Radio Times that it will be possible to watch the service from St Paul's Cathedral without commentary by using the Red Button option.
Might Wimbledon be next? Please............
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That was terrific. The organ here can obliterate almost anything against which it is faced. It's a shame it's so little used.
Having never before heard of this beat combo I had visions of a large primate (the sort without a hat) dancing to the music...
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I use 8 words-only copies of Mission Praise for the same purpose. The vicar looked a bit askance when I said that I knew there must be a use for them somewhere...
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Oh no! I can't make the links work now. MM scanned his photos and sent them to me after I offered to do a bit of post-processing before uploading them. I must admit that I didn't notice that the original negatives or slides had been scanned the wrong way up. <red face>!
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Rowland,
PM sent to you..
H
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I echo these sentiments. The site has been hugely valuable in identifying the recitals I wish to hear, especially those where the programme details were included.
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Working on the basis that one's attention span is as long as one's posterior is comfortable on a hard seat I have taken to carrying a cushion in a cloth bag to recitals. The exception was Stratford-upon-Avon's Guild Chapel when I made sure to arrive reasonably early and nab either the priest's or the mayor's chair at the East end - padded, wide with loads of leg room and with the added attraction of being a suitable distance from the West end case. This ploy has now been foiled by the (very welcome) ability for the now mobile console to be moved from a corner at the West end and which now for recitals sits directly along the two chairs. D'oh and all that...
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1 hour ago, Keitha said:
I wonder if the Leamington Spa music shop was Geoff Gough - just off the lower end of the Parade near All Saints Church? I used to buy both piano and organ music there. My preferred shop was Cranes in Smallbrook Queensway in Birmingham - they always seem to have just about anything in stock and I used to get the train to Brum as a teenager to buy stuff - all now gone, alas. One that is still going strong (since 1823) is McCullough Pigott in Dublin - again used to have a good stock of organ music - my Irish Granny used to treat me there by buying me pretty much anything I wanted when I was a 10 year old every time we went into 'town'. Great memories. BTW Presto (mentioned above) have a great online operation for CDs and sheet music and there in-shop staff are very helpful and are mostly musicians themselves.
Yes, that's the one. Thank you. Funny how you remember when told... It looks as if Presto's shop isn't far away from All Saints either. Incidentally, I often went to Bank Holiday recitals there but have missed the last couple years which may or may not coincide with Mrs H's retirement... A fine organ but in need of some work when last I heard it.
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Leamington Spa A shop, the name of which I cannot remember, was in a small side road just off The Parade. They sold a large selection of music for most instruments including an impressive selection of organ along with a good range of smaller musical instruments. Most of my JSB books, one or two of which I bought in an unjustified spirit of optimism and still are in almost pristine condition, plus several useful compilations were bought there in my teens after a train ride from Stratford-upon-Avon.
The shop went years ago but our local Hospice charity bookshop does have quite a decent selection of organ music at very reasonable prices.
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We had congregation of 7 plus 2 celebrants and 1 organist at 9am BCP Communion in a very cold and draughty church where the organ is at the West end under the tower and belfry leading to a mass of cold air landing on my head. Short pieces were therefore the order of the day and I did a 5 minute improv on Adeste Fideles interspersed with Good King Wenceslas before the service, nothing for the communion (no time!) and the one page voluntary on While Shepherds Watched by Alec Rowley.
Then out into the marginally warmer fresh air!
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I shan't become involved in the discussion about this organ but urge Adnosad not to remove any of the clock case. The very light oil used by horologists would soon become affected by accumulated dust which occurs even in the cleanest household and form a horrid claggy mess. This would affect the regulation and proper running of the movement.
Here endeth etc.☺️
Seasons greetings to one and all.
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That was a really interesting film. I had always assumed that they were made using an injection moulding method - this method is much better to watch!
Thanks for pointing it out.
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Thanks you both. It's not the URC organ although I do know that one (and they're my photos on the NPOR). The organ in question is St. Peter, Welford on Avon which is about 5 miles south-west of Stratford. As you'll see the NPOR gives it TP action but I don't think that has been updated since 1970 and it's possible that the action has been changed since then.. I added a photo and a few other details in 2010.
Rowland is right in the assumption about anyone at the church having technical knowledge of the organ although old paper archives of all church records are currently being digitised so may be unearthed soon.
Keitha - pm about to be sent.
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Thanks very much for this, Keitha.
I've known this organ on and off for over 40 years and took it, without really thinking about things, to be TP until September this year. I was due to play for a wedding but had to pull out at relatively short notice. The DoM of a major church nearby kindly offered to play and asked if he could come to have a quick look and the organ so that he knew what was what. On our arrival, on Thursday afternoon for the wedding on Saturday, the blower started but there was no stop action. A transformer for the EP system had burned out. Nicholsons were absolutely brilliant, coming out the next morning to wire in a temporary unit and then a hard-wired replacement within a week or so.
I took this to mean that both the stop and key actions had been electrified at some point - might it be that just the former saw attention?
If the key action is still TP, can the touch be adjusted? My knowledge of the innards of this organ is limited and the other 3 organs I play are single manual and pedal trackers.
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I have recently played for a Remembrance Day service and several funerals at a church with a small but good 2 m + p Hewins/Nicolson. The key action seems very light indeed and I have made more discordant sounds than usual by, for example, simply brushing a sharp or flat in a "white note" chord and causing it to sound. I would be the first to admit that my technique is at least partly to blame but wonder if anything can be done to slightly increase the weight of the action? The church is quite wealthy and no eyebrows were raised when I suggested that it would be nice to have some combination pistons added and a promise was made to ask Nicholsons to have a look when next the organ is tuned so I would expect that if some adjustment is possible there would be no objection to spending a bit more. There is currently no appointed organist and in the absence of any other I am the default choice for occasions when the organ is required. This does provide me with a bit of leverage! A band plays for the regular Sunday service but the church is keen to keep the organ fully maintained and is hoping to hold a small recital series during 2022.
I should appreciate any advice before I risk making myself look silly by taking it further. Thank you.
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The clip from Coventry is remarkable - thank you for posting it. I love the cheeky glance and smile to the girl chorister at 3.24.
I'm glad, for everyone's sake, that no recording of my playing at age 11 exists 😱
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I recall hearing a particularly over-audible tenor in a choir as being "en-chamade".
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Is not the traditional replacement for a broken fan belt a ladies' stocking? 🤯
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1 hour ago, Martin Cooke said:
Oh dear, the Tuba sounds awful in that recording!
Oh yes it was dreadful and the whole rank seemed to be completely unregulated! But very exciting to an 11 year old whose only experience of a reed stop was a distinctly dodgy and asthmatic Oboe going just to tenor C...
(I still quite enjoy the old FJ recording though!)
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I have always enjoyed the Tuba Tune since first hearing FJ's recording of it on an early LP acquisition. I developed huge respect for it and organists able to play it properly from Simon Johnson's narrated performance on the Priory DVD recorded in St Paul's cathedral.
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... and what stunning playing throughout. The organ sounds absolutely magnificent.
Thank you for sharing so much of the rebuilding process with us. I look forward to 1) a long weekend in York for Mrs H and me and 2) a recording when all has settled down.
Looking to the future
in General discussion
Posted
It will this Sunday; the first service at my church since the death of Her Late Majesty. (It's quite a lot easier to play than most of the others which are well outside my capabilities these days.)